Rowan Holzberger (Forde, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I think what's going on in the world at the moment—in the Australian economy in particular—is an experience that we've all felt on a personal level. There's nothing like when you think you're starting to get ahead and then the car breaks down or the fridge breaks down and you get a bill that you didn't expect. That's how I feel it is in the Australian economy at the moment. After four years of Australians working so hard to tighten their belts and to bring inflation down, I feel that the world's circumstances have really set us back. That is so incredibly frustrating, because when you look at where this government is going, when you look at the record of this government so far on things that I campaigned on and was elected on in 2022, and was elected in 2025 to pursue—things like cost-of-living relief, housing, health care, energy, skills and mental health. When you look at our record in each of those areas, we are making progress.

The previous speaker, the member for Dawson, spoke about so-called hollow promises, such as in energy, but there is nothing hollow about the default market offer coming down by 10 per cent, more than 10 per cent in South-East Queensland and even higher for small businesses. There's nothing hollow about building 206 public housing dwellings in Forde, in one electorate, which this government has done in one term, which stands in stark contrast to the previous government, which built 373 dwellings across the entire country in its entire term of 10 years. There's nothing hollow about lifting the number of bulk-billing GP practices in Forde—more than doubling them overnight through that policy, which was introduced in November—from nine to 21 practices. There's nothing hollow about a Medicare urgent care clinic in Oxenford or in Browns Plains. There's nothing hollow about expanding the Medicare mental health clinic in Logan and about setting up a new one on the northern Gold Coast. And there is nothing hollow about the reforms that we've made to superannuation, including payday super, as well as the changes to the LISTO that are going to benefit low-income workers to the tune of 11,353 people in Forde alone, 7,688 of whom are women—68 per cent.

When you look at this government's record, it is a record of achievement. It is a record which stands in stark contrast to 10 years of neglect from the previous government. The Australian people should really be congratulated for making such an enormous effort to fix things up.